Running on Empty (15 page)

Oh. My. God.

Did that just come out of my child’s mouth?

I tilt my head and stare at her, raising only my left eyebrow. This is my code for “You have about two seconds to think about what you just said and correct it before you
really
get in trouble.” She has actually become
very
familiar with this code over the last couple of months. Needless to say, she walks behind my back and grabs the bra, still holding it where Blake can see. I’m pretty sure she’s doing this as an act of retaliation. “Sorry, Mom. I’ll put it in your drawer for you.”

“Thanks, Nyc.” I want to add a major lecture about how to appropriately speak to adults, mainly your own mother, but I figure I should wait until Blake isn’t around.

I turn and see Blake silently laughing in the kitchen.

“Nice job. That was obviously a very effective form of communication.”

“Yeah, well, you pick up a few useful things as a parent, such as telepathic chastisement. I’ve tried it on Harlow, but evidently it’s strictly a parent/child thing,” I state nonchalantly. I walk into the kitchen where Blake’s leaning against the counter.

I turn quickly to avoid thinking about how sexy he looks in his torn jeans, army green t-shirt (slightly resembling his G.I. Joe one – minus the letters) that makes his eyes look even more amazing, and his gorgeous hair – still flipping up behind his ears, but now evidently styled to look that way. Grabbing a glass out of the cabinet, I clear my throat –
jeez, it’s hot in here
. My throat feels like sandpaper.

“Want something to drink?” I ask.

“Nope, I’m good.”

Glass in hand, I make my way to the refrigerator and reach up to pull the door open. Mind obviously on all things Blake, I ram my gauze covered fingers right into the door.

“Ahh!” I scream. Tears immediately find their way to my eyes from the pain. Instinctively, I drop the glass in order to once again clutch my throbbing hand safely against my chest. Glass shatters all over the kitchen floor.

“What happened?”

“Are you okay, Mommy?”

I hear the girls cry out as they run into the kitchen to see what major calamity just occurred. Kyndall’s leading the pack, but when she sees the glass all over the floor, she stops abruptly. This leads to Nycole running straight into the back of her and Rylie running into the back of Nycole. It’s actually a very
Three Stooges
moment and if my fingers weren’t shooting pain throughout my entire body right now, I would’ve found it hilarious.

Before I can say anything, Blake immediately runs to the girls and herds them out of the kitchen using his arms. I watch Kyndall and Nycole jumping up and down trying to see over them, while Rylie sticks her little head just underneath. Concern etched all over their faces.

“Alex, are you okay?” he shouts over his shoulder as he signals for the girls to stay put.

“Yeah, I’m okay!” But I know I’m not. The tears that started from the pain continue from frustration. Still holding my throbbing hand, I look down at the floor. At the sight of the glass shards that are going to be an absolute
bitch
to clean up, my lip starts quivering and I know I’m about to lose it. Just as I hear Blake round the corner, I attempt to wipe my face with my hands. I quickly suck in a breath of air as the pain once again shoots up my entire arm.

I look up to see Blake enter the kitchen area. He approaches me with extreme caution. I’m not sure whether it’s because of the glass shards on the floor or because he senses my imminent breakdown. Regardless, at the sight of him my shoulders begin to shake and the tears begin to stream steadily down my cheeks. I immediately look down to the floor in embarrassment. With my eyes lowered, I watch his boots make their way through the sea of glass and stop right by my feet. I’m still looking downward when puts his hand under my chin, and tilts my head back, forcing me to look at him.

“It’s okay, Alex. I’m right here. Everything will be fine,” he says as his worried eyes watch the tears run down my cheeks. He gently puts his hands on each side of my face and wipes the tears away with his thumbs. Then he pulls me closely into his chest, puts his arms gently around my shoulders, and places his chin on the top of my head.

I begin to sob.

He runs circles on my back with one hand while running his other hand over my hair in an effort to calm me. In the midst of my tears, I can’t help but catch a whiff of him. Leather and soap. It’s oddly comforting.

“Shh, it’s okay, Alex. Let it out. It’s been a shit day,” he says with a chuckle, still holding me protectively in his arms.

And with that, I begin laughing.

“It has been a
shit
day. Thank you for being there to experience every shitty
second of it, Blake.” I continue laughing. I have a feeling I am very near my emotional delirium threshold.

Blake pulls back from me and his eyes wander my face. “No problem. That’s what friends are for.”

We stare at each other for a few seconds. I can’t believe this man’s kindness. After everything, he is right here, comforting me.

“Thank you, Blake, for everything. It means a lot that you’re here right now, especially after the way I treated you the last night.”

“Like I said, not a problem.” He ends his statement with a shrug of his shoulders.

We continue to gaze at each other for another second. The look is broken by the sound of three pairs of feet hesitantly making their way back into the kitchen

“Mom, are you okay? It’s been a while. I know Blake told us to stay, but we were worried,” Nycole says, eyeing the closeness between Blake and me.

I look over to see her arms protectively around her sisters, one on each side. Her worried eyes look back at me for reassurance. I release Blake from our embrace and turn to face her. I wipe the remaining tears from my eyes and sniffle. I motion for them to stay where they are. “Yes, baby. I’m fine. I’m just really frustrated because my hand hurts and I can’t do the things I normally do.”

Nycole’s eyes light up. “Well, Mom, it’s a good thing Blake’s here to help. Then you don’t have to do everything like you normally do. You don’t have to be sad anymore.”

I look back at Blake and offer him a sheepish smile, knowing that her words have a much deeper meaning than they sound. And I’m sure that Nycole, as smart as she is, knows this too.

I turn back to Nycole and nod my head, acknowledging that I understand the true meaning of her statement. I then look at the other two and let out a long sigh. “Alright girls, go get the broom and dust pan from the laundry room and bring them to Blake. He’s got a big mess to clean up!” Shrieks and giggles arise again as they all three run out of the room to fetch the broom. I look at Blake and sniffle again, swiping my nose along my shoulder. I move my eyes to the floor. Definitely a big mess.

The thing is… I don’t know if I’m referring to the glass all over the floor or to myself.

Either way, it seems Blake definitely has a very big mess to deal with.

With plenty of help from the girls…who each decide they need to be wearing a pair of my high heels to do so… Blake and I are finally able to declare the kitchen an official “glass free zone”. I walk over to the cabinet to grab another glass, because I’m in desperate need of ibuprofen, when I hear “No!” coming from every person in the house. I turn around to see Blake AND the girls laughing at evidently the most hilarious joke of the twenty-first century, all while giving each other high-fives.

“Hardy-har-har,” I state sarcastically, trying unsuccessfully to hide my own laughter. “You guys are
hilarious.
” I roll my eyes at them and turn back to the cabinet. Grabbing a glass, I walk over to sink and fill it with water. Placing it on the counter, I grab the ibuprofen bottle and start to open it.

“Did you make sure that you can take those with your pain meds?” I turn around to see Blake standing behind me. He reaches around my body, grabs my water, takes a drink and puts it back down on the counter.
Why?

“Um, no I didn’t because I’m not taking the pain meds. I can’t take them with the girls, Blake.” I move the glass of water closer to me.

Blake rakes his hand through his hair, as though he’s scratching his scalp. I can tell he’s frustrated by the tone of his voice. “Alex, you’re going to have to take the meds. You won’t be able to sleep unless you do, trust me.”

“Um, again, no. I’m not taking them, Blake.”

The girls feel the tension in the air and slowly start disappearing from the room. Blake looks at me disapprovingly.

“I told you. I’m here to help. I’ll wake you if anything happens. But the most important thing is that you rest so you can heal,” he says, gesturing towards my fingers.

“Hello! You’re
so
not sleeping here Blake. Like I really want to explain
that
to my girls. Plus, I don’t want to keep you from anything you need to be doing. Thank you, but I don’t need you to stay, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“The thing is, Alex, I
do
worry, which evidently is the problem here,” Blake says, grabbing the ibuprofen pills out of my hand. “I promised the girls I would help you and I
don’t
go back on my promises. I’m not sleeping with you in your bed. I’ll be on the couch. So there won’t be anything to explain to them. They know I’m here to help because I’m the only person able to help right now. You
need
help and you know it. I know it. Your girls know it. I really don’t think there is any reason to make a big deal about it. So why don’t we just make sure you can take these with the other pills.”

God he’s annoying.

“Give me the ibuprofen, Blake! You’re being ridiculous!” I reach for them but he quickly moves them out of my reach and holds them over his head. “Seriously, Blake! Give them back !”

I jump up to try to reach them, but it’s damn near impossible. I attempt to jump again, the jerkiness of the movement killing my hand. “Damn it, Blake! I’m serious!”

“Well, you’re just going to have to get over it because I’m not leaving. I can’t leave; I drove you here in your car, which means I would have to take your car to my house. I don’t think leaving you stranded is a safe alternative. I mean, I’m sure we can figure something out if you really want me to go…” A devious smile breaks across his face. His voice rises louder as he looks over my shoulder. “But I don’t plan on going anywhere tonight, that is unless the
girls
want me to. Girls, do you think I should stay and help your mom out?”

I stop mid jump and look back to see all three girls peeking their little heads around the corner of the kitchen, watching my pitiful attempt to grab the ibuprofen from Blake.
The kid card? Again? Really?

“Why can’t he stay, Mama? We’re supposed to watch a movie later, Blake promised. You said he was your friend, we don’t mind if he stays. It’ll be like when we have slumber parties with our friends, right? That way if you can’t do something and we’re already asleep, Blake can help,” Kyndall says to me with a look of confusion on her face.

I’m
so
not ready to deal with this right now. This man shows up a couple of days ago and all of a sudden he has infiltrated my house.

“As I said, Alex, I don’t go back on my promises. So the girls and I will be watching – ” He motions to the girls for help.

“The Little Mermaid!”

“Spy Kids!”

“Willy Wonka!”

Blake shakes his head and continues, “A movie, which we’ll evidently be deciding on later. And since I’ll be here anyway, you might as well get some comfortable sleep.”

For once, I’m completely at a loss. A man has not spent the night in this house since Derek. I’m not really sure how I feel about having
any
man in this house for an extended period of time. Short visits are fine, but we’re talking overnight.

I’m in a whole new realm of confusion.

“Look girls, I know you really like Blake. I like Blake too or he wouldn’t be here.” I make sure to shoot him a dirty look. “But things are a little more complicated when you’re all grown up. It’s just not that easy.”